Hunt Or Be Hunted
by Fifi McFu
Summary: What should have been a fight to death has turned into a voyage of discovery, a battle of duty against lust.  Naruto's pride has been wounded, and all he wants to do is end the cycle. vampfic! SasuNaruSasu
1. Prologue

**For Kyuume's birthday.**

* * *

The church was on the outskirts of the destroyed city, a vast stone monument in testimony to the thriving metropolis that had once surged around it, evolving and growing whilst the edifice stayed rooted in history. Time had gnawed its teeth on it gradually, chipping away at it resolutely like a prisoner scrapes his fingernails against a brick wall, and the roof had finally given way.

Light now streamed both ways through the large circular window of stained glass, and it was thought to be ironic by the man on the motorcycle that now that the building was devoid of religion, light was allowed to pass both ways.

It was built of golden sandstone that hadn't been lifted from the local terrain and in fact had come from a far off city that was now shrouded in fables and thought to have never existed. The real origin of the sandstone was a topic that was hurriedly overlooked by the spreaders of such conspiracies and so the church stood like a beacon of curling, twisted mystery amongst the blackened remains of buildings constructed of weaker materials. The two vast mahogany doors that had once filled the arching entrance had perished in the surging blue fires, but the arch itself remained, covered with intrinsic carvings that reached far beyond the scope of religious concept.

In the sunshine, the church was pure gold; not the glossy, polished gold we wear on our fingers or keep in our pockets as signature of our prosperity, but the raw, slightly dulled element that has been melted together and though it isn't refined or gleaming, it speaks of far greater purity and wealth than rings or coins ever could.

Only one pair of eyes beheld the magnificence of this final relic from before the blue fires. The man on the motorcycle had his feet planted firmly on either side of the rumbling black machine, keeping it upright with his strong legs as he looked upon the Church of Gold.

He could have been born directly from the very magnificence of the building. His skin was a caramelised gold only a few shades darker than the sandstone, his bright blond hair a stark contrast against it but at the same time perfectly fitting with the radiance of the once-holy place. Eyes that were like mirrors of the clear open heavens above him were framed with short but noticeable blond lashes that dusted upon sparsely freckled cheeks when he blinked.

These eyes now closed fully as he mentally prepared himself for his task, listening to the calming hiss of the waves breaking on the not-too-distant shore, the refreshing scent of salt and seaweed hanging in the air and clearing his mind. He sucked in deep breaths, willing the calm that had settled over him to stay ingrained within his bones, praying to no deity in particular that he would not lose control.

When he opened his eyes, his fingers drifted to the key in the ignition and twisted it, cutting off the machine's rumbling tirade and sending it to sleep. He kicked the stand down and swung his right leg over in a smooth arc, his boot bringing up a cloud of dust when it thumped down on the other side. Black riding goggles hung around his neck, half caught in the fitting leather jacket which he now unzipped down to his midsection, letting the bare skin beneath it breathe. Unconsciously his gloved hand strayed to the handle at his hip, curling around the weave of the wrap for a second before it was jerked away to adjust his black shorts.

Wetting his lips with his tongue, the man took his first determined steps towards the towering golden building. He had parked his bike just on the cusp of the church's vast shadow, and his blinding hair colour was muted somewhat as he entered the shade. The odd, water-like circle of light cast by the stained glass window rippled when he walked through it, as though it had more substance than just light particles, and he felt the hairs on his arms rise at the strange ethereal quality to the air. He wasn't even within the four walls of the church and yet he could sense the wraithlike quality in the atmosphere that had once drawn worshippers to their God.

And strangely, once he passed under the archway and his boots creaked on dusty wooden flooring, that eerie quality was muffled. Perhaps it was the way the sunshine streaming through the absent roof seemed to touch everything, leaving only the faintest of shadows, but he could sense sanctuary here.

What a strange place to meet a vampire.

The blond man didn't falter despite his wandering thoughts, taking long, measured strides down the aisle between the haphazard pews towards the altar, which still had a vibrant red cloth draped over it. He didn't quite reach it, coming to a stop just before the stone steps as he cast his senses out, searching for his quarry.

"For a vampire hunter, you are intriguingly unobservant."

He whipped around, blue eyes darting across the wooden benches, the fallen pillars, the debris of the fallen roof. The voice had been dark and cutting and clear, directly in his ear and almost whispered. A darkness flitted in his peripheral vision to the right and he whirled again, hand zoning in on the handle of his wakizashi as he tried to keep up with the mist-like shape.

His eyes darted to the far corner of the church, the darkest part with the least amount of sunlight, knowing that the vampire would find his refuge there. Whilst the myths about vampires perishing in sunlight were false, they certainly didn't appreciate it and he was led to believe that it burned their virtually pigment-free skin if they stood in it for a long period of time.

Dark eyes.

The hunter yelped loudly and stumbled back, the vampire who had brought himself nose-to-nose with the blond smirking in curled amusement. His hair was such a pure black that it didn't even shine in the sunshine, his deathly pale skin as cold and stony as marble. The only life in this being was in his expressions, the pure amusement and cruelty reflected in his eyes.

His lips parted, a flush becoming apparent on them, and two long, lethal teeth were made visible before he'd even pulled his upper lip up in speech.

"Boo."

The hunter's sword was drawn in a singing of metal and he held it before him in a reversed style, his teeth bared in a growl and all the previous calm he had been instilling into himself gone as quickly as a shell washed off a beach. This vampire knew exactly where his buttons were and how hard to push them, something which he evidently realised from the way his smirk spread into a dark grin.

"It's been a while, Naruto. I missed our little encounters." He began to stalk, wolf-like and prowling in a circle around the man now known as Naruto, the blond pivoting on the balls of his feet to keep his eyes on the enemy. His sword glinted in the sunlight as he moved.

The light didn't appear to affect the vampire too much because he made no moves towards the shadows dotted about the place. Naruto was inherently bewildered – why had he requested to meet in such a place, where there was virtually no protection from the fatal sun?

The vampire laughed, a short but deep chuckle that ripped gooseflesh up Naruto's arms. "Confused? You should be noticing by now that the sunlight isn't affecting me."

The blond swallowed down hard on the lump in his throat as his mind acknowledged this unexplainable fact – the vampire's flesh wasn't burning, nor did he show any indication that he was paining himself by standing in the light. If it weren't for the two hungry fangs bleeding from his gums, the man could have been an ordinary (if very pale and beautiful) human.

"Sasuke... What have you _done?_"

Hearing his name spoken seemed to please the vampire. The mirth that lay poised in his face like a snake became much more apparent, though whether this was because he was amused or because his nose was suddenly touching Naruto's again was anybody's guess.

Naruto didn't even have a split second to react. Never had Sasuke been this fast, and they had fought on countless occasions. Cold hands fisted in the front of his leather jacket and the wind whistled through his hair as he was thrown into the front row of pews, the rotten wood cracking under his weight with a splintering crash.

There was no time to think; Naruto's body moved on autopilot, turning his crash landing into a backwards roll through the smashed wreckage of the bench, his sword still held firmly before him. Sasuke was no longer standing by the altar and immediately Naruto made a break for cover, aiming for the shelter of one of the fallen roof pillars.

A hand on the back of his jacket halted him immediately and he was grateful that he had unzipped it else the vicious tug Sasuke gave on the material could have choked him. His steel-capped toes scraped the floor as he was lifted by inhuman strength and then smashed face first into the floor. Splinters cut into his face and sawdust went up his nose, but all that went out of his head when Sasuke stomped with insane pressure on his back, thrusting the wind out of his lungs.

His sword was kicked out of his hand, skimming across the floor to rest with a clang against the stone steps of the altar. Not giving his body time to recover, Naruto thrust his leg out in a swiping kick that Sasuke easily dodged, before the vampire reached under Naruto's chin and grasped the open collar of his jacket.

Naruto struggled, coughing and trying to get his wind back as Sasuke lifted him to his feet again and led him with an iron grip up the stone steps to the altar. His mind was racing. Sasuke had never been this powerful before, and they had been fighting for a very long time – he was faster, stronger and most importantly, the sunlight wasn't affecting him.

The next thing he knew, he was staring at the blue sky above him as he was slammed down onto the red clothed table, Sasuke over him in a feral crouch. Naruto could hear the squeak of the vampire's black jeans as Sasuke loomed over him, his fangs longer and his eyes bleeding into crimson as the bloodlust consumed him.

"Wh-what the hell?" he choked out. The red eyes that had been tracing down the exposed part of the tanned chest, snapped back to Naruto's own blue ones, Sasuke's breath coming in eager pants. Sasuke's grin was so morbidly excited that Naruto felt himself recoiling in horror.

"Curious?" The timbre of Sasuke's voice was practically a purr, his head cocked to the side as he continued to survey his prey. Slowly, he raised his ghostly white hands to the hem of his maroon t-shirt and tugged it up and off, revealing a chiselled alabaster chest. He then placed one hand firmly on Naruto's sternum, putting enough pressure on it to warn the blond to keep still, before twisting to display his left shoulder.

Naruto took in a painful breath, his eyes widening. "That's..."

"The seal of Orochimaru," Sasuke finished for him. His eyes were now completely red and his lips were swollen as though he were aroused. In a rolling, cat-like movement he dipped down and surged up Naruto's body until his face was pressed intimately to a tanned throat. He inhaled through his nose deeply, taking in Naruto's scent.

"That's impossible!" Naruto spluttered, panicking at how close Sasuke was to his neck. If he got bitten, he would almost certainly be sucked dry by the vampire. "The seal of Orochimaru is no more than a myth!"

He had read about in his father's journals when he was training as a hunter, a seal of protection that raised a vampire's powers exponentially but forsook his already damned soul to the demon Orochimaru of the Snakes. The soul was then used by the demon to re-enter the world of the living, but the original owner of the soul had no control. In essence, in Sasuke's next life, he would be a puppet to a demon.

But all that was just stories! An old-wives tale passed down between generations of vampires! It... it couldn't be real... could it?

All that Naruto had seen so far told him that yes, it was very, _very_ real.

Sasuke must have seen the dawning comprehension on Naruto's face (or maybe he smelled it, he was really taking in his prey's scent now) because he just smirked again.

"You're powerless, Naruto. And now, your time as hunter ends."

He felt sharp pricks of pain scraping down the side of his neck and immediately began to struggle despite the crushing pressure on his ribcage from just one of Sasuke's hands. "Hell NO!" he yelled, writhing and jerking his neck away from the source of the pain. "If you've got the cursed mark now, then you can get those fucking teeth away from me!"

"You were going to let me bite you before?" Sasuke inquired, sounding amused and intrigued. He shifted his weight so that he was on his knees over Naruto as opposed to crouching and braced his arms heavily on the hunter's shoulders, rendering Naruto virtually immobile from the waist up. He kicked out with his legs which were totally free, but as they rained down on Sasuke's back he might as well have been kicking a concrete block for all the good it did him.

Yeah, he had been opposed to being bitten pretty heavily before. But if Sasuke really _did_ have the cursed mark... then that meant he had a power that vampires hadn't been graced with since their creation, an ability that had slowly died out as their population had spread.

It was the ability to turn humans.

If Sasuke bit Naruto now, then Naruto would become one of _them_; the very creature his career revolved around killing!

"Get the FUCK off me!" Panic setting in, Naruto did the last thing he could think of. He bent his knees and planted his feet firmly on the altar table, pushing off with all his might and pulling Sasuke towards him. The result surprised even him. Sasuke was caught completely off guard by the movement, allowing Naruto to pull them into a backwards roll that resulted with their positions reversed, though Sasuke still had a bruising grip on Naruto's shoulders and Naruto was lying between his legs. Immediately, Sasuke's legs wrapped around his midsection and squeezed like a vice, winding Naruto for the second time in just a few minutes.

Sasuke attempted to roll them to the side but Naruto had braced his arms on either side of his head and was resisting the movement with all the strength he could muster. Luckily he had the weight advantage, being taller and broader than the vampire, and this coupled with his position allowed him to just about resist the momentum of Sasuke's roll.

When Sasuke realised he wasn't going to be able to wrestle out of the hold, his hand shot out to grab the back of Naruto's hair, wrenching the blond's head back and exposing his tanned throat once again.

"If you wanted to be on top, you should have just said," Sasuke growled, absolutely no humour in his voice now. He leaned up and swiped his rough, cold tongue against Naruto's throat, shuddering at the taste of the hunter's skin. Naruto let out a nasal growl, trying to get out of the hold but only succeeding in thrusting his hips down wildly.

"Steady on," the vampire purred in his ear, strangely immobilising Naruto. Blue eyes were wide in terror as Sasuke's breath ghosted over the side of his throat, toying with him. "We'll have plenty of time for that when you're changed."

"Wh-what?" It was all that Naruto could manage to gasp out, especially when he felt those teeth again like pointed icicles against his skin.

"You obviously know you'll be changed," Sasuke replied, seeming to tease himself now by abstaining for the moment from drinking. His grip around Naruto's waist with his legs tightened and he rocked his hips gently up into the hunter's. Naruto could feel a smirk against his neck as he fought down an irrepressible groan that bled out reluctantly as his body reacted naturally to the friction.

"Don't tell me you wouldn't like this," Sasuke rumbled darkly, continuing to rotate his hips in slow, sensuous circles. His grip in Naruto's hair tightened painfully, making the blond wince, though there was still a pleasured flush creeping up Naruto's face now that he couldn't control.

"I think you would," the vampire continued, sitting up very slightly to press their torsos together, Naruto's leather jacket preventing skin-on-skin contact on their stomachs, although the opened zipper allowed for full contact of their chests. Sasuke's skin was cold, but oddly this didn't make Naruto want to pull away. It was cold, but in a refreshing way, like iced water is on a hot day. Alarmingly, it made him crave more.

When Sasuke's teeth finally pierced his flesh, Naruto didn't move an inch. It wasn't that he couldn't. It was just that for some reason, he didn't _want_ to fight Sasuke anymore.

_Dammit, the fucking vampire is seducing me!_ He thought angrily, though his body showed no inclination of agreeing with his anger. In fact, he relaxed further into Sasuke's touch. The pain wasn't even as bad as he had expected. The teeth were so sharp that the wounds were clean... and for some reason, it seemed as though Sasuke's saliva had numbed the area where he had licked.

Sasuke was being curiously gentle too. In fact, he was even making the experience somewhat arousing, something which Naruto's brain was refusing to compute but his body was quite happily going along with. He could feel Sasuke's surprisingly soft lips moving minutely against his heated skin, that rough tongue lapping up the blood drawn forth by Sasuke's teeth.

His breath was coming in hot pants now, and it was taking all of his willpower not to return the grinding motions of Sasuke's hips.

"A-ah..." he gasped as the teeth sank deeper, the slight aching pain sending delicious shivers down his spine. His arms were trembling as they struggled to keep him braced.

"Hmm," Sasuke murmured against his neck, clearly enjoying himself. Naruto could hear swallowing noises, indicating that Sasuke was taking his fill, and while the idea of that would have repulsed him at any other time, right now it was just another contributor to the catalyst of lust that was coiling inside him.

"Sh-shit..." he panted into Sasuke's collarbone, feeling his strength beginning to seep away. Very slowly, he allowed his arms to unlock, bending them at the elbows and lowering himself and Sasuke to the altar as Sasuke continued to drink.

The fangs were withdrawn, and Sasuke lapped up the blood that continued to spill out like a cat laps at a bowl of milk. "You taste fucking good," he said huskily, his voice as saturated with lust as his movements were. "Definitely worth the chase."

"Shut... up..."

He felt drowsy now. Peaceful. Sasuke sensed that he was no longer resisting in anyway and took the opportunity to flip them again, blood spilling down Naruto's neck. Quickly, Sasuke darted in to drink it up as if afraid to waste it. Naruto stared up at the sky with a feeling akin to utter bliss stealing over his entire body, his mind finally complying with what his senses were telling him, that this was right, this was _good_.

He was taken completely by surprise when bloody lips were pressed against his and a scarlet-soaked tongue thrust into his mouth. The coppery tang of his blood made him wince at first, but as Sasuke rubbed their tongues together Naruto gradually became accustomed to the taste, came to like it even. And then he was kissing Sasuke back, his tongue being the only muscle in his body that was moving aside from his slowly stilling heart and lungs. Droplets of blood rolled down his throat and he swallowed them compliantly, not minding that it was his own.

His heart was beating so slowly now that every beat felt like its last, and every beat was thunderous in his ribcage. Sasuke's mouth left his to tend to the blood still streaming from Naruto's neck, and Naruto could swear that the sensation of the vampire's tongue on his skin was twice as sensuous as before. New colours were seeping into the skies above him, the smell of salt was almost stinging in his nose. He swore he could hear Sasuke's eyelashes swishing through the air as he blinked.

_It's the change,_ he realised dazedly. _It's really happening._

As quickly as the new senses arrived, they began to black out, one by one. He was losing consciousness now. How long had it been since his last heartbeat? Minutes? A black ring had formed around his vision now and was creeping inwards slowly, like the burning edges of a parchment set on fire.

"I'll see you on the other side," he dimly heard. Sasuke's voice was faint, muffled as though he was speaking underwater. Naruto's eyes fluttered closed because he could no longer see. Lips were pressed against his very briefly, a smirk curving them.

Just before all connections were cut, he heard Sasuke's voice, cutting and clear as though he was right inside Naruto's head, declaring the doom of his second life.

"You're mine now, Naruto."

Naruto welcomed it with a smile.


	2. Part 1

The cursed seal hurt, a sharp pain that left the taste of anger in his mouth. It made his fangs extend on their own, and they throbbed with the need to bite even without the bait of human blood. Sasuke hadn't known that there would be side effects to turning a human – he had assumed that offering his damned soul to the demon Orochimaru was side effect enough in exchange for the blistering power that the seal gave him.

He hoped that this pain wasn't going to be permanent. He didn't even really know what was causing it – the seal was a direct link to Orochimaru that gave Sasuke unlimited access to the demon's powers. It made him faster and stronger, it heightened his already well-developed senses, it allowed him to walk under the sun like a human being. It also granted him with a power that had been lost since the time of the Elder vampires, the ability to turn humans into members of his own kind.

Perhaps there was something in human blood that the seal was reacting to? Sasuke hadn't bitten a human since acquiring his new powers, so he had no way of knowing if this would happen every time he fed as well as whenever he turned his victims. For all he knew, it might be something unique to _Naruto's_ blood that was making the seal react. Hunters were human, but they were the elite of the race. They had harnessed inhuman strength through generations of selective breeding and training, and it was said among the vampires that a Hunter tasted better than any other human.

Perhaps the seal was reacting then to the power that Naruto had already harnessed through his lineage? Orochimaru might have gotten a taste of something that he hadn't expected... something he craved more of.

All of this was mere speculation on Sasuke's part though. He had rushed the ritual that had granted him with the seal, skimming through the forbidden texts of his ancestors without much care for the details and only desiring how to _get_ the phenomenal power he now controlled. He would have to look for those parchments later and read up more thoroughly on what he had let himself in for.

Right now though, he had a turned ex-Hunter restrained in wooden stocks in the breakfast room of his ruined family mansion.

Naruto was still unconscious, but even in sleep Sasuke could see evident changes to the blond's body. That luxurious caramel skin had lightened a few shades, the freckles that had smattered across Naruto's nose and cheeks were now gone. The muscles in his arms and back were more pronounced. His hair, once unruly and retina-searing yellow, now appeared softer and a more gentle shade of blond, falling in perfect spikes on his sleeping face.

Vampires were beautiful beings. True, Naruto had been beautiful before, but now he was... perfect. Almost too perfect. Sasuke wasn't quite sure if he liked the changes. He had initially fallen for Naruto's wildness, his imperfections, but now the flaws were gone and the wildness... well it had become a different type of wildness. He was no longer an untamed animal, but a feral creature who in time would be in absolute control of his ferocity.

But he was going to be one mad son of a bitch when he woke up. He may have eventually succumbed to Sasuke in his final breathing moments, but when Naruto finally regained full consciousness he was going to be horrified with himself. It didn't take much to imagine the emotional trauma one would experience if after spending your whole life hunting vampires, you got turned into one.

Which was why Naruto was restrained in wooden stocks. It was the only thing that would be able to contain him when he woke up.

Sasuke sighed and settled gracefully on top of the large mahogany breakfast table, watching the sunlight streaming through windows to either side of Naruto. The sunlight was the reason he was keeping Naruto in the breakfast room. It had the most windows in the house. Sasuke may have been resistant to sunlight, but Naruto for all his beach-surfer looks was most definitely not. If he by some impossible feat managed to break out of the stocks, he would at least be slowed down enough by the sunlight surrounding him for Sasuke to be able to catch him and pin him down.

Leaning back on his hands, Sasuke watched the man sleeping in the shadows. A hint of a possessive smirk curled at the corner of his mouth. He hadn't actually planned for it to turn out like this. He had been trying to _kill_ Naruto for years; the only reason he had gone through with the cursed seal was to become strong enough to end Naruto once and for all.

But when it had come to that, when he had been giving the option to either suck Naruto dry or leave him with just enough blood to change into a vampire, Sasuke had abruptly changed his mind.

He supposed that deep down, there had always been a kind of masochistic attraction to Naruto inside of him. No Hunter had ever made him so excited to fight, and Naruto wasn't even the strongest Hunter he had come up against. That title went to Naruto's father. But he'd not really recognised this strange attraction to his enemy until he had Naruto writhing underneath him with fear coursing through his blood.

Sasuke didn't regret his decision. He just hoped that he could eventually convince Naruto not to off himself every time he was left alone.

His thoughts dissipated though as Naruto's eyes abruptly opened. Vampires didn't gradually come to; once they were conscious they were fully awake. The ex-Hunter stared wildly around, his eyes such a brilliant and varied shade of blue that they were like cut diamonds embedded in his skull. Those eyes focused after a few mere seconds on Sasuke, and they narrowed dangerously.

"As soon as I get the chance, I'm going to _wring_ your fucking _neck_ you bastard!"

Sasuke didn't react. He had expected Naruto to be furious, and he had been right. Naruto, for all his clever Hunter instincts, was a predictable soul.

Not that he had a soul anymore. Shit happens.

When it was clear that Sasuke wasn't going to answer him, Naruto began to struggle, twisting his head and wrists in an attempt to worm his way out of the stocks.

"You'll only hurt yourself by struggling," Sasuke said calmly. He could already see raw blisters forming on Naruto's skin where the wood was rubbing against it violently. "You of all people should know that wood is poisonous to vampires."

"Shut up!" Clearly Naruto didn't take kindly to being referred to as one of Sasuke's kind. "Fuck you to hell, I hope that Orochimaru turns you into a prostitute in your next life!"

Sasuke blinked at the rather unusual insult but quickly waved it away, pushing himself off the table and walking towards Naruto, who despite everything had subdued a little.

_At least he learns fast,_ Sasuke thought as he crouched down in front of Naruto, bringing their faces to the same level. Naruto's eyes were full of venom, and though he probably didn't realise it, his teeth were bared to reveal very long canines. They weren't the sharp delicate points that Sasuke had – they looked more like those of a wild wolf or a fox, more designed to rip flesh than to pierce it.

Sasuke couldn't help but grin. Naruto still had that untameable wild streak, even as a perfect being, and this pleased Sasuke greatly. Unable to stop himself, he reached out and grabbed a healthy fistful of Naruto's hair, wrenching the blond's head back as far as it would go before bringing their faces within centimetres of each other.

"I can tell we're going to have a lot of fun, Naruto. Don't worry, you'll grow to love being a vampire in time. Believe me, there is _nothing_ more exhilarating in this world."

Naruto was growling ferociously, his eyes wide with anger. "I will _never_ become an animal like you. Believe me Sasuke, I'll kill myself before I drink a single drop of human blood."

Sasuke laughed. "You can try. In time, the bloodlust will consume you. And when it gets to the point where you can't control yourself, I'm going to watch you go back on your words." His pale fingers flexed in Naruto's hair and the ex-Hunter winced a little, recoiling away as much as he could when Sasuke brushed their lips together.

"Just imagine it Naruto. A whole eternity together. Orochimaru won't get my soul until I'm killed, and I don't count on that happening any time soon. We have all the time in the world."

Naruto's hands curled into fists where they hung suspended to either side of his head. "If I can't kill myself, I'm gonna try and kill you. You don't deserve to live."

"I think in time, you'll come to change your mind." Before Naruto could contest that, Sasuke pressed their lips together firmly, keeping his grip on Naruto's hair tight and firm. Of course, Naruto resisted, screwing his face up and keeping his mouth shut, but Sasuke knew he wouldn't resist forever. Maintaining a delicate balance between forceful and persuasive, he caught Naruto's lower lip between his teeth and tugged gently before kissing Naruto again, running his tongue along the seam of Naruto's mouth. At the same time, his other hand came up to cup the blond's jaw, his pale fingers caressing the skin there softly.

It worked. With a soft gasp, Naruto opened his mouth. Sasuke jumped on the opportunity, sliding his tongue between those dangerous canines to meet with Naruto's own, which was hesitant at first but as Sasuke turned the kiss more heated Naruto started to respond more. Soon their tongues were sliding against each other, fighting over whose mouth they should be in and learning the insides of each other's mouths. Sasuke was glad he didn't have to be careful with his fangs (Naruto certainly wasn't being careful with his), because their skin was strong enough not to be cut by just the grazing of their teeth. It meant he could let go, kiss however the hell he wanted to kiss.

And once Naruto got into the swing of it, he wasn't a bad kisser either.

When Sasuke eventually broke the kiss, a thin thread of saliva trailing between their mouths, Naruto was as subdued as a gunmetal-grey sky. What little human blood he had left in his body had rushed to his cheeks and lips, leaving them flushed with desire, and his smouldering eyes were hooded as he watched to see what Sasuke would do next.

Sasuke could have crouched there all day kissing his new toy. He was sorely tempted to do just that. But he had to find those forbidden parchments again and see what was going on with the seal. It continued to throb roughly across his back and down his left arm.

He stood up, Naruto's eyes following. He gave the blond a quick ruffle of the hair before turning and heading out of the room.

"What the hell? Untie me you asshole!" Naruto's shouts echoed out into the vacuous entrance hall, holding the smirk on Sasuke's face firmly in place.

(-)

Naruto was pissed. Okay, he was beyond pissed. First, Sasuke beat his ass in the church without hardly lifting a finger. Then he _seduced_ Naruto into letting him bite him. Then he turned Naruto in a bloodsucking leech. Then he tied Naruto up in the most medieval contraption he could find. Then he seduced Naruto _again_. And then he just up and _left_ Naruto there, in the most uncomfortable position possible whilst he went off and did whatever Sasuke Uchiha liked to do in his mansion.

It was fair to say that Naruto was not a happy cupcake.

His gaze darted around the room he was confined in, the overload of new sensory information that his brain wasn't accustomed to making him feel nauseous. There were so many new colours he hadn't noticed before. He could see the seven hues of the rainbow stretching in individual bands across the room where he once would have just seen plain sunlight. He wasn't sure but it felt like he could _smell_ oxygen in the air.

He appeared to be in an old dining room of some sort. There was a huge mahogany table that stretched the entire length of the enormous room, shafts of seven-coloured sunlight lazing across it like multi-coloured panthers. Part of the ceiling was missing, revealing an impossibly blue sky with light clouds strewn across it. The room was badly damaged, with charred remains of timber supports collapsed at random intervals. Portraits that had once adorned the walls were now half-seared and blackened with charcoal.

It seemed that not even the Uchiha mansion could avoid the tyranny of the blue fires.

All things considered however, the building had fared pretty well in the disaster. The walls were all still intact, presumably because they were built of a similar type of stone as the church had been. Most buildings in the city had been constructed of glass and metal, a tribute to the era of modernism the citizens had been relishing in right up until their last minutes of fruitfulness.

Nobody knew where the blue fires had come from. Some people swore that a meteorite had caused them, that they had seen it crash through the ozone and light on fire, becoming the spark-plug of the chaos that ensued. Religious figures often claimed the fires were like the Great Flood, designed to wipe out evil so that good could start afresh in this broken world.

Naruto had only been six at the time, so he didn't really have an opinion on what had caused the fires. All he knew was that ever since then, it had been survival of the fittest. He and his Dad had travelled around doing the only thing they knew, slaying vampires for petty payments in the form of lodgings and food (money had lost all value in less than twenty-four hours).

Not even apocalyptic destruction had stopped Naruto and his father from their mission though. Their mission to hunt down every last Uchiha vampire like the hierarchical stuck-up dogs that they were.

Sasuke could try and seduce him all he wanted, but Naruto would never forget what the Uchiha's had done to his mother.

Sasuke may not have committed the crime, but he bore the weight of it in place of his ancestors who now were no more than ash in the wind. Naruto had to end Sasuke at all costs. And then, when Sasuke was a burning corpse, Naruto would end himself, and the cycle would be broken.


	3. Part 2

_"Kushina! Take Naruto and run!"_

_"No! I'm not leaving without you!"_

_Little four-year old Naruto sat up in his bed, rubbing at his sleep-ridden eyes. He could hear his parents shouting in the hallway. Were they fighting?_

_"There's too many of them, just go! I'll hold them off!"_

_His bedroom door burst open, his fiery-haired mother running in with true fear in her eyes. Thick black smoke billowed across the floor like a crawling mist, snapping at her heels as she ran to the bed._

_"Mummy? What's going on?" he asked, not liking the way she kept glancing over her shoulder as she lifted him out of the bed and got him to put his shoes on. "Where's Daddy?"_

_"Daddy's fine honey, just grab your hunting bag," she said as she rushed to the wardrobe and started rummaging through it. Naruto frowned but did as he was told, dropping onto his stomach and crawling under his bed to grab his hunting toolkit full of all the essentials needed to kill a vampire. His Dad had started teaching him the basics just last week. The kit was hidden right at the back next to the wall so that nobody would find it, and he had to get right under the bed._

_A deafening crash made him cringe and cover his ears, but even then he could hear his dad shouting out in the corridor. The smoke was getting thicker, and a burning stench filled Naruto's nostrils. He glanced towards the door as he began to crawl again, and he could see a bright orange light flickering out in the hallway._

_He knew all too well what was going on. Vampires were attacking, and they'd set the house on fire._

_"Hurry up honey!" his Mum called, coughing slightly on the smoke. It was horrible hearing her try to cover up the fear in her voice, to sound urgent but not scare Naruto._

_Naruto was already scared though._

_He reached out frantically and felt his fingers brush against the rough fabric of the bag. "I've got it Mummy!" he called._

_"That's great, now pull it out and we'll-"_

_Naruto's heart raced as his mother fell silent. He didn't dare to call out for her, because at least half a dozen tall shadows had swarmed across his doorway, blocking out the flickering light. His father was nowhere to be seen, and Naruto recoiled into a tiny ball as he watched many pairs of feet walk into the room._

_"You can't run forever, Kushina," one deep voice growled. Naruto tried to hold his breath, grateful now for the smoke that was sure to mask his scent._

_"Where... Where is my husband?"_

_"Oh, your husband is alive... for now," the voice chuckled. The very tenor sent a shiver down Naruto's little spine. "You on the other hand... have a different fate."_

_Naruto watched his mother's feet back away from the many pairs of boots, until his mum was caught in a corner. She dropped something on the floor, one of his coats. "Madara... this won't be the end."_

_"Oh, it will be Kushina. Once you're out of my way, nothing is going to keep me from what I want."_

_Naruto was surprised to hear his mother laugh, a desperate and hoarse noise that sounded nothing like his Mummy. "Killing me won't change anything. You think you can just harness that kind of power without knowing anything about it?"_

_"It may be different for a lowly human..." Madara growled, "But the demon fox will have no choice but to obey vampires."_

_One of the many pairs of boots shifted. "Sir... what if she's telling the truth?"_

_"Silence! I will have that demon, Kushina. And now... you will give it to me." The pair of boots right in the centre of the group walked forward until they were almost touching his mother's slippers. Naruto felt tears leaking from his eyes as he heard a choking noise, which was almost certainly his mother. He clamped his hands over his ears and swallowed down his sobs, knowing he had to keep quiet until the vampires left. If his Daddy was no match for them, he would be dead in seconds._

_He was close to fainting from smoke inhalation when his mother finally dropped to the floor, her eyes open and empty and staring directly at him. The vampires didn't waste any time, turning and walking out of the room... but one pair of boots paused. Naruto's heart was about to hammer out of his chest as the last vampire turned towards the bed and crouched down to look underneath it._

_The vampire was beautiful, like his dad had told him they would be. His eyes were pure coal black and his hair fell in soft spikes around his face and stuck up at the back. When he saw Naruto, those eyes narrowed for a moment, and in that moment Naruto felt sure that he would be killed._

_But the vampire only smirked and gave Naruto a little salute. "I'm sure we'll see each other again, little man," he chuckled, as if this was the funniest thing that he'd ever witnessed, and then he straightened up and walked out of the room after the other vampires._

_Naruto lay there amongst the billowing fumes of smoke, staring with streaming eyes at his dead mother. When Minato finally wrestled out of his bindings, escaping the flames that had been intended to kill him with mere seconds to spare, Naruto was already passed out with his hands still clamped over his ears._

* * *

Since that moment, Naruto's life had become an eternal hunt. His father's veins were full of hatred for the Uchiha clan, and not even the chaos of the blue fires had stopped him in his search to hunt down every last vampire and avenge the death of his wife, of Naruto's mother.

Naruto had been more than happy to help.

It had taken many years, but they had narrowed the Uchiha clan down to one last vampire. Even Madara was no more than a pile of ash. But Sasuke had continued to elude them, and eventually Minato and Naruto had split up to hunt the final Uchiha down. They'd had more than one encounter with Sasuke in the past, and it had curdled Naruto's blood to realise that he was in fact the vampire who had let him live, who had laughed at his mother's death as if it was a big joke.

He hated Sasuke the most, because he wished that Sasuke had just killed him while he had the chance. Now they were stuck in a never-ending battle of who was the strongest. And what pissed him off the most was the fact that he knew Sasuke was always holding back, treating their fights like some game.

And now Sasuke had gone and turned him into a vampire. Minato was going to _kill_Naruto when he found out, quite literally. And Naruto would let him. There was nothing more horrific to him than becoming one of the creatures he had spent his entire life hunting down.

But first, he had to kill Sasuke.

_And I can help you..._

Naruto's head, which had been drooping as it hung, suspended and trapped in the stocks, whipped up and his eyes darted around the breakfast room. "Who's there?"

He was alone, as far as he could tell. Nothing was there to keep him company except the half-charred portrait of Madara Uchiha which glared down at him almost indignantly. So it should, Naruto had been the one to kill him.

A dark, rumbling laugh. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Naruto's eyes darted around frantically, taking in thousands of colours but no source of the voice.

_I was wondering how long it would take for an Uchiha to resort to the Seal... For a minute there I thought I was gonna be stuck behind bars forever._

"Show yourself! Who are you?"

_Stop squirming boy, you'll only give yourself timber-burn. If you want to see me so desperately, then close your eyes..._

* * *

The study was the only fully intact room in the whole mansion, which was part of why Sasuke loved it so much. The other reason was because it held an impossible amount of books, scrolls and forbidden parchments. The entire Uchiha legacy was housed within this room in the form of ink on paper. Every ritual, every accomplishment, every historical moment of the clan was documented in the texts squeezed into the bookshelves.

To Sasuke, it was like swimming in knowledge, and he loved it almost as much as he loved drinking blood.

Today found him in a less than happy state though. The curse seal was getting increasingly more painful. His arm felt almost numb with pain and it took every effort just to lift it to get down the book detailing the ins and outs of the Seal of Orochimaru. The book was enormous, and so heavy that when he dropped it on the desk the sound thundered throughout the spacious room. The pages were thick and frayed but surprisingly intact considering the age of the book.

Sasuke flipped through the pages, reading the contents at a speed much faster than a human could achieve. Even though he read fast, he was drinking in every word for fear of missing an important detail like he had done last time.

The book seemed determined to be unhelpful, however. It gave him a long jargon about the history of Orochimaru and how many vessels he had possessed in the past and the destruction he had caused, hence the ritual being forbidden. Not that there were any Uchiha's to tell him he'd been a bad boy now. Sometimes being the last vampire had its perks. After that, the book went on to describe the ritual itself, which had been the only section Sasuke had actually read before. He re-read it, just in case, but this section didn't tell him anything helpful either.

He opened the book on one of the last pages, entitled _"Effects"_. He had already read this section several times. Nevertheless, he scanned the list, hoping for some hint of what was happening to him.

_Enhanced speed... resistance to sunlight... improved senses... heightened strength..._The book told him nothing new.

"Fucking piece of SHIT!" he screamed, throwing the book across the room with his good arm. He watched with enraged satisfaction as the spine of the tome snapped and the pages scattered across the floor. Falling back in his seat, he steepled his fingers together in front of his face despite the pain that raced up his left arm at the action.

He had to work on what he already knew. The seal was a direct link to Orochimaru. In essence, he could communicate with Orochimaru if he ever felt the desire, although he knew that doing so was a dangerous move that could lead to his premature death. Nevertheless, he suspected that the link was the reason for the pain he was in.

_Perhaps the seal is reacting to Orochimaru's emotions?_ he pondered, his eyes staring at the scattered pages on the floor without seeing them. _If that's the case, he's either pissed as hell or really excited about something... but what?_

* * *

Naruto was in a refreshingly dark, cavernous room. Cool air whistled around the contours of his body and unseen water lapped at his ankles, smothering his feet. He could hear the constant _drip_of condensation somewhere, though he couldn't gauge how far away it was because he wasn't accustomed to his new superhuman senses.

A giant of an animal was sat in front of him, its vast paws planted proudly in front of its belly. A pelt of soft-looking reddish-orange fur adorned its body like a mantle. Naruto had to resist the urge to reach out and pet the enormous creature. Even the venomous red eyes that glared down at him and those huge drooling fangs weren't much of a deterrent. A long tail snaked out from behind the shadows behind the creature and curled around behind Naruto, caging him in.

Eight more long shadowed tails curled and writhed in the background like the snakes of the gorgon's head. Occasionally one would flick into the light (though Naruto wasn't sure what the source of the strange green light was, exactly), as bright and orange as the rest of the animal.

He watched as those enormous teeth were bared in a grimacing grin, and the creature spoke. "Naruto Uzumaki."

It was the same voice he had heard in the breakfast room of Sasuke's mansion. Wait, how did he get here in the first place? One minute he was restrained in wooden stocks with nothing but Sasuke's dining table for company, and the next he had closed his eyes and he was suddenly _here_. Wherever here was.

"Where am I? And how do you know my name?"

The fox (for that is what it was, if a hugely overgrown one with a few too many tails) chuckled deeply, a sound that reverberated around the entire room like a booming cannon-shot. "I know a lot more about you than just your name, Naruto."

The tail that was caging Naruto in flicked a little, reminding him of the way a cat flicks its tail when it's impatient, although this seemed more playful to him. His neck was beginning to ache already from having to crane it to look up into the fox's face. The cool air swirling around him was punctuated by gust of hot breath that came in time with the rise and fall of the monster's ribcage.

"What—_Who_are you?"

"I am the reason your mother died all those years ago."

This made absolutely no sense to Naruto. "What? What are you talking about? The Uchiha's killed Mum, I think I would have remembered seeing you. You aren't exactly hard to miss."

For some reason, the fox took this to be extremely funny, because it threw its head back and laughed so loudly that the room shook and Naruto had to cover his ears with a grimace. "Haha! Hard to miss! Oh that's rich coming from you, Uzumaki."

"What are you—Stop being so cryptic! Who are you, what the fuck are you talking about and what the hell do you want?"

The laughter subsided, although it looked like the fox was having a hard time keeping a straight face. "I am the Nine-Tailed Fox."

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock," Naruto muttered, leaning to the side a little and eyeing the mass of writhing tails behind the fox pointedly.

The fox ignored him. "I'm more commonly referred to as Kyuubi, and I'm a demon."

"A demon?" Naruto scoffed. "There's no such thing."

"I'm as real as the vampires you hunt, boy. And you're trying my patience by constantly interrupting me. Do you want me to answer your inane questions or not?"

Naruto clamped his mouth shut, and gave a nervous "carry on" gesture.

Kyuubi huffed irritably, all signs of humour gone from its face. "As I was saying, I'm the reason your mother was killed. I may look huge to you right now, but for hundreds of generations of humans I have been confined to a human vessel. My spirit has been locked up by the Uzumaki clan for thousands of years."

Naruto frowned as he tried to take all this information in. The Uzumaki clan had been in control of a demon fox? He'd never heard any of this from Dad.

Kyuubi continued. "My previous vessel was your mother, Kushina Uzumaki. But when a new generation is born into the family, the curse on my spirit transports me to the newborn child. In this case, that was you."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "Dude, there is _no way_ you've been... _inside_me all this time and I've never known!"

"I was very well hidden," Kyuubi assured. "The curse placed on me kept me locked in the deepest recesses of your soul in a cage of powerful, ancient Uzumaki magic. More observant people than you have not noticed my presence."

Naruto still wasn't sure he believed this. "Okay, I'll go along with this whole 'I've been hiding in you all your life' theory, but what the hell does this have to do with Mum?"

Kyuubi looked thoughtful for a moment, as though he was pondering on the best way to word his answer, and Naruto took the opportunity to roll his head and ease the pain in his neck from looking up at the demon for so long. Kyuubi noticed this, and without warning the huge mass of muscle and fur lay down in the shallow water with a tremendous splash that soaked Naruto through, ending up lying so that his paws touched the tip of the tail curled around Naruto.

Naruto wiped the water off his face, not sure whether to complain or thank Kyuubi for making this easier on his neck.

"How much did you hear when the Uchiha's attacked your house that night, Naruto?"

Wringing out his shorts as best he could, Naruto made a thoughtful noise as he tried to recall the events of that painful night as best he could.

"I... I remember Madara was looking for something," he said, scratching his head. "And he had to kill Mum to get it... and then he just kind of left."

Kyuubi nodded, his whiskers dipping into the water briefly. "He wanted me. Only I don't believe that he had all of the facts. He was either unaware that Kushina had given birth to you, or he didn't know that I was inside you instead of your mother. He also seemed to think that killing her would give him control over me..." The fox shook its head with a short bark of a laugh. "Vampires think they're these incredibly intelligent creatures but they can be so dense sometimes... No offense."

Naruto scowled as he was reminded that he was now one of those vile creatures. "So, how come I'm only just finding out about you now? And why didn't Dad tell me about you?"

"Minato knew of my existence, so obviously he was trying to protect you." Kyuubi's tail flicked again, splashing Naruto with more water and earning the fox a glare that went ignored. "I'm assuming that he thought that by keeping the knowledge of my existence from you, it would be less likely that the Uchiha clan would know that I was inside you."

This made sense to Naruto, although he was distinctly miffed that his Dad had known about this monster and not even told him that it was the reason that his Mum was dead.

"As for why I'm only now revealing myself to you... Well, the curse is broken."

Naruto started, eyes widening even further. "You mean... you're not locked up now? I don't have any control over you?" This did _not_sound like a good thing.

Kyuubi rolled his crimson eyes and looked around the cavernous room they were in. "Do you see any bars? We're in your mind, but I'm only still in here because I feel that staying with you would be beneficial to me. You see, I also want to end the Uchiha clan for good."

"But wait, how did the curse break?" Naruto asked.

Kyuubi gave another one of those sinister chuckles that made the hairs on Naruto's arms raise. "Ah, that's the best bit. The curse is Hunter magic, designed to keep me under the control of the Uzumaki Hunter clan for all eternity. The only thing that could break the curse... is my vessel being turned into a vampire. I'm guessing since all the nobles with the power to turn had already been wiped out when the curse was laid on me, the Uzumakis weren't expecting one of their descendants to ever be turned."

Naruto had to fight the urge to just fall on his arse in the water. "So... I've essentially fucked up my clan's legacy?"

"Pretty much." Kyuubi began to examine his claws, as if expecting that Naruto would need a few minutes to adjust to all this information.

But Naruto still had questions. "So you said you wanted to kill the Uchiha clan too? Why?"

Kyuubi didn't look up from his claws, his tail swishing lightly. "I don't plan to leave my vessel until I'm certain that every Uchiha is dead. The last thing I want is to finally be free and then be caught by some power-mad vampire."

This made sense to Naruto. "So, you're gonna help me kill Sasuke, right?"

"If you've got the balls to follow through with my plan, that is," Kyuubi said, looking at Naruto matter-of-factly.

"Hey! I've got plenty of balls!"

Kyuubi raised an eyebrow. "We'll see, Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

After about an hour of glaring over the steeple of his hands at the ruined book on the floor, the pain in Sasuke's arm began to subside considerably. Within ten minutes it was nothing more than a dull twinge. He flexed his arm tentatively, wondering why the curse seal was suddenly calming down but not complaining in the slightest.

He got up from his office chair and walked around the desk, proceeding to pick up the pages that had scattered everywhere. He stuffed them all roughly between the covers of the book, not really caring if he had ruined it or not, and threw it on his desk to put away later before deciding to head back down to see how his captive was getting along.

As soon as he left the study, he knew something was wrong. The air was thick with raw power, almost stifling, and his acute senses were able to pick out that the air molecules were vibrating with the strength of the power, so fast that not even his superhuman hearing could pick out the noise they were emitting.

He rushed down the huge flight of stairs and into the breakfast room, where the energy doubled in strength, almost making him fall to his knees with its overbearing power. Naruto was still locked up in his restraints, much to Sasuke's relief, but he was quite clearly the source of the power.

The fact that a veil of a red aura was surrounding him was enough confirmation.

Naruto's eyes were closed, his body slumped as though he were asleep, although it seemed to Sasuke as if he were in some sort of trance. Sasuke's skin was resonating with the vibrations of the air, static crackling all around him as he began to edge slowly towards Naruto.

He had no idea what was going in, but he definitely didn't like the feel of this energy. It was a kind of power he had never experienced before, it rippled with pure strength that far surpassed his own.

He was a few feet away from his captive when suddenly, the energy was gone. The aura dissipated as if it had been mere vapour. The hairs on Sasuke's arms lay flat again. And Naruto slowly opened his eyes, which were a brilliant sapphire.

He immediately sensed Sasuke's presence and scowled. "How long are you planning to keep me like this, bastard? I'm fucking starving."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, thoroughly shaken up by what he had just witnessed. "So you changed your mind about feeding?"

Naruto huffed loudly, looking thoroughly pissed. "I'm going crazy here. Besides, I'm gonna need my strength if I'm gonna be a better vampire than you."

Sasuke had to resist the urge not to laugh. Only Naruto would turn this into a competition. "If I release you, you have to promise not to try to kill me. Or yourself for that matter."

"Only if you keep your hands to yourself, pervert."

"I suppose it's a compromise."

Still wary and making a mental note to return to his library later to research what the fuck he had just witnessed, Sasuke approached the medieval contraption Naruto was restrained in and pulled the key out of his jeans pocket. He unlocked the padlock on the side and then swung the top half open on its hinge, freeing Naruto from his confines.

The blond stood up and stretched, groaning when his spine crackled back into place after having been in such an awkward position for so long. "God that feels good..." Sasuke couldn't help but let his eyes run up and down the firm body as it stretched out to its full extent like a panther.

"Hey, you promised not to be a pervert," Naruto growled.

"I'm allowed to look," Sasuke smirked. "C'mon, let's hunt. I can teach you a few neat vampire tricks whilst we're at it." He turned and began to walk out of the room, knowing he was taking a huge risk by showing his back to Naruto.

Naruto merely grumbled to himself, however. "As long as the tricks don't involve freaky vampire sex."

Sasuke snorted inwardly. Naruto was about to find out just how erotic feeding could be. Once he'd hunted, he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off Sasuke.

He couldn't wait.


	4. Part 3

Sasuke had to admit he was a little peeved at how fast Naruto was taking to his newfound strength and speed. He had half expected the blond to be clumsy and oafish as he learned to adjust to the new parameters his body had been set – that Naruto would underestimate how fast he could run and would end up stumbling, or that he would accidentally crush something because he didn't realise how much pressure his grip now exerted.

It was in fact, very much the opposite. And that annoyed Sasuke, although he wasn't really sure why. Naruto's body appeared to be _made_ for vampirism it seemed. Perhaps it was the result of his Hunter heritage that his muscles adapted so well to the new power coursing through them, or that his spatial awareness didn't seem the slightest bit hazy.

If it _was_ the result of Hunter lineage, it was pretty ironic that a body built for the sole purpose of hunting down and killing vampires, was in fact perfect for becoming one of the undead itself.

Still, despite Sasuke's petty agitation, he had to admit that Naruto looked fucking_good_ doing the whole vampire thing. Right now, as they navigated the obstacle course of corpses of buildings and husks of cars, Naruto had never looked more beautiful. He was a flash of yellow amongst the dingy grey, and Sasuke's superhuman eyesight was able to hone in on the way Naruto's thigh muscles clenched and compressed as he landed in a perfect crouching perch atop one felled building before pushing off with such power that the air around him actually parted and whipped towards Sasuke on one side, and the ocean-line on the other.

What Sasuke loved the most though, aside from this lethal display of furled-up strength waiting to lash out of Naruto's very cells, was the expression on Naruto's face. Whilst he could tell from the blond's eyes that he was at war with himself, the feral smirk that curled his lips indicated which side was winning in the mental battle between Hunter and Vampire.

They were heading towards the Slums, the only district of the broken city which still remained inhabited by humans. The Slums had been a pathetic shamble of shanty towns before the blue fires, and because they had the least to lose, they suffered the least. Now, it was nothing less than a thriving (if rather ugly) metropolis which was slowly spreading outwards into other districts like a wave of clumsy resurrection.

Sasuke could smell the hotspot of blood from his mansion, and even he, an aged vampire, had trouble resisting at times. It was almost like the smell of freshly baked bread, wafting through the vacant rooms and tempting the senses. He couldn't imagine how difficult it was for Naruto right now – the smell must be absolutely maddening to a newborn, although the blond seemed to be handling it well. He did little more than lift his nose to the breeze every now and then like a wary dog, his nostrils twitching briefly as he took in that delicious, copper scent.

Whilst all of this was fascinating however, Sasuke's mind kept returning to that disturbing sight he had witnessed in his breakfast room. The orange aura of pure evil that had risen from Naruto's sleeping body like Death's Veil, bubbling with energy that was desperate to destroy everything in its path.

And the shape it had taken on. Sasuke knew he had seen that shape before, that vulpine silhouette was floating in a long forgotten pool of memories, just out of reach of Sasuke's net.

One thing was certain though. Whatever Naruto had inside him, it was bad and Sasuke was going to have to get rid of it. There was no way something with an aura that chilling and frightening could ever benefit its host in the long-term. Sasuke hadn't changed Naruto just for him to be consumed by some inner demon that had accidentally awakened.

He realised back in the present moment that Naruto had stopped, knelt atop an overturned lorry and sniffing the air again. Sasuke landed silently beside him and focused his mind on the task at hand, teaching Naruto how to feed.

"One is close," he said as he spread out feelers of scent receptors, locating prey in the vicinity.

Naruto said nothing. He merely curled his hands into fists, his face losing the smirk. Now, he no longer looked like a beautiful predator. He just looked like a man fixing to do a bad thing.

Sasuke sensed that Naruto might be close to changing his mind and was quick to act. He took in a deep lungful of air, loud and clear and letting the taste and scent of blood infiltrate into his body like nicotine. "God, that smells divine."

Predictably, Naruto took in a deep breath too, unable to help himself when the tempting smell was so close by. A creeping of bliss scuttled over his face briefly as he did so. "Yeah... I don't think I've ever smelled something so good in all my life." He said it with such conviction that it surprised Sasuke, who had been expecting at least a little reluctance. He couldn't believe how quickly Naruto was forgetting about his Hunter instincts and letting the new Vampire instincts in.

It was almost too easy. Naruto wasn't even putting up a fight. Sasuke had to admit he felt disappointed.

He forgot all about that though when Naruto's body seemed to curl into a predatory stance. Sure, it was a shame that Naruto wasn't going to put up a fight, but at least Sasuke got to see the big show that much quicker.

"Where is it?" The blond's voice was so low it was almost inhuman, and the growl that rumbled through it was gruff and arousing.

"Follow me."

Sasuke leapt from the truck and down onto the cracked asphalt pavement, Naruto hot on his heels. Crumbling alleyways flew past their peripheral vision, as they honed in closer and closer on the unwitting human that had accidentally become today's lunch. He could hear Naruto behind him, breathing erratically as the cravings strengthened.

The Uchiha came to an abrupt stop outside a less derelict alley and Naruto halted with him. They pressed themselves to the wall and peered around to find a young homeless man poking through a bin to no avail.

Wrenching his eyes away from the morsel, Sasuke looked at Naruto. His blue eyes were darkened, much like when Sasuke had enticed out his lustful side, and two wolfish fangs were pressing against his flush lower lip. His fingers clenched in the material of his black pants that was stretched over his muscular thighs, and if it had been physically possible for him to sweat, he would have been drenched in a fine sheen of it. As it was, his skin remained clear and dry, though it had taken on a slight flush.

Sasuke was tempted to give up on the feeding lesson right there and then, and start a new lesson altogether – one that involved as little clothing as possible and focused on releasing a different kind of animal from within Naruto.

As it was, he could sense that the blond man was starving, aching to rush out and annihilate the homeless man. He knew that kind of hunger, had felt it wrenching at the nerves of his teeth and clawing energy away from his body in huge chunks. It was something he wished on no man or woman, not even on his rival.

He leaned forward and breathed shallow and hot against Naruto's neck. "Go."

Again he was surprised when Naruto did not hesitate. The word had barely left his lips before the spot next to him, previously occupied with his blond companion, was empty and stirring up dust, and a horrified scream was raised to the skies before the homeless man choked on his own blood.

Sasuke rounded the corner into the alley, and felt every cell in his body ache with longing at the sight he beheld. The beggar was slammed against the alley wall, so hard that it must have fractured every vertebra in his spine, and Naruto's predatory body was pressed against the dead man's from hips to chest as he gorged himself on the red liqueur spilling out of two vicious rips in the man's throat.

The blond was moaning, and the sounds were almost one hundred percent pleasure and only a tiny fraction disgust.

It was difficult, watching Naruto devour the man in such a primal manner; part of Sasuke was longing for the blood, of course, but more of him was longing for the killer. Nevertheless, he waited, let Naruto drink his fill. He kept his cool, leaning against the wall at the mouth of the alleyway, arms crossed and head bowed as if he were deep in thought and not trying to prevent himself from jumping Naruto.

But when the gulping sounds stopped, he couldn't resist looking over just as Naruto raised his head with scarlet blood smeared across his mouth and dripping down his chin. Some of it was even streaked through his hair in vivid smears.

Fear and excitement glowed in Naruto's eyes. "Sas... Sasuke," he choked out in a pained, husky voice that sent all the energy in Sasuke's body straight to his groin.

The dead man fell to the ground, drained and already going into post-rigor mortis. His eyes stared up accusingly at the great blond Vampire, who braced himself with one arm against the wall and looked down at his leather jacket smeared with blood in fascination, panting as though he had just run a marathon.

Sasuke licked his lips, feeling his thin fangs scrape against his tongue.

When Naruto looked at him next, the lust in his eyes was so prominent that Sasuke broke.

An unseen movement, and suddenly Naruto was the one slammed against the wall with his neck bared for consumption. Sasuke's fingers fisted in the slippery leather for a few moments before deciding Naruto didn't need the jacket and ripping it off him to reveal the broad torso beneath it. Sasuke's hands fell upon Naruto's blood-soaked face, before sliding down and drawing a crimson path across Naruto's chest.

Naruto seemed to be done with teasing and temptations and waiting though, because after only a few seconds of this one tanned hand was in Sasuke's hair and their mouths were crushed together in a painful, angry, fanged kiss that made Sasuke's knees buckle and his fingernails drag roughly down Naruto's abdomen. The blond responded with a jerking thrust forward with his hips, groaning with mind-consuming desire as his free hand worked fast to make sure Sasuke was also divested of his shirt, choosing to merely rip the material from Sasuke's very body rather than remove it normally.

Naruto's animalistic roughness and the tang of fresh hot blood on his lips was enough to drive Sasuke wild. He'd never wanted something or someone so much in his very long life. The closer they got, the more he needed Naruto, the more his body ached for satisfaction. He didn't care that the seal was throbbing so hard it was almost mind-numbing; in fact, it only added to the frenzy. He didn't care that something terrible was hiding within his companion, something that he knew he would eventually have to deal with.

All he cared about was the mindless animal devouring his body. The dark-skinned hands that slipped under the waistband of his jeans and pushed them down, the jagged teeth that scraped at his throat and shoulders, the _groans_ that Naruto made that could have been pleasure or horror or both.

Spin and slam, and now Sasuke was against the wall and Naruto's nails were longer, sharper as they tore into his thighs, leaving vicious welts that throbbed in time with the cursed seal and his desperate erection. Naruto's mouth was on his chest now, granting the flesh no mercy as he left a bite-littered trail down Sasuke's torso, over his stomach, across one hip and then the other, around the trembling prize and down to the quivering inner thighs, where Naruto clamped down hard just as he pushed one thick, clawed finger inside Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes rolled in his head before closing involuntarily, a long hiss seeping through his teeth. "Shit! Naruto..."

Without giving Sasuke time to adjust a second finger was already thrusting in to join the first, and a hot rough tongue was lapping up the dark vampire blood that dribbled down Sasuke's thigh. Guttural moans rumbled in Naruto's throat, echoing around the alleyway with only a dead man as witness.

Naruto dragged his tongue up Sasuke's inner thigh in one final, roughened swipe before looking up with eyes as red as the blood smeared across his mouth and through his hair. Sasuke opened his eyes and met the gaze, biting down on his lower lip as Naruto's fingers surged deeper inside him, curling and scraping.

Naruto's expression was one of desire and despair. Sasuke barely lasted a minute.

* * *

**TBC**


End file.
